Alright y’all, it’s time for another (late as hell) Mr. Robot recap and review!  Let’s do this thing!

My Love Wears Forbidden Colours

In 1982 (during the best decade ever!), Whiterose—who’s known full time as Director Zhi Zhang at this point—and her translator are closing a major deal between China and IBM.  The folks at IBM believe they’re entering a lucrative enterprise, when really and truly, Whiterose has every intention of stealing their intellectual property, and even says so!  Of course, the fools at IBM don’t catch this because they don’t speak Mandarin.  Learn another language, y’all.

It turns out that Whiterose’s translator is also her lover, who hopes the deal allows her to become an ambassador to the US.  That way, they can be together without facing persecution.  After the IBM deal is done, Whiterose and her man hang out in their hotel suite watching Culture Club’s “(Time) Clock of the Heart” video (that’s my favorite Culture Club/Boy George song, by the way!) and Whiterose has a bit of an epiphany.

Whiterose’s lover, who believes in extreme punctuality, lets it be known that they’re scheduled to have drinks with the IBM businessmen in 15 minutes.  Whiterose declines and has her man go ahead in her place.  A few hours later, Whiterose’s lover comes back looking rode hard and put away wet, and when he enters the suite, we are all treated to the first glimpse of the real Whiterose.

Take a lesson, y’all.  This is a bad bitch.

Whiterose is fierce as all hell with her curly wig and badass dress (that used to belong to her mama!).  Her man is shocked, but he doesn’t ridicule her or judge her.  As a matter of fact, he tells her she’s beautiful.  He kisses her, and the camera zooms in on his watch…the same digital watch Whiterose dons now.

Some time later, Whiterose’s man is getting married…to a woman.  Whiterose goes with the flow, and even delivers white roses to him to lighten the mood (white roses symbolize death) but her man is miserable.  At the reception hall, Whiterose tries to assure him that this “marriage” won’t change anything.  The lover asks if Whiterose will still be ambassador to the US, and she honestly answers that she won’t.  Things went so well with the IBM deal, the government appointed her as the Minister of State Security, a much more lucrative and powerful position.  She couldn’t turn it down.

Whiterose’s man is even more heartbroken.  She assures him to be patient, but he tells her that when folks ask you to be patient, they’re actually asking for your surrender.  The gentleman then takes a nearby knife from a platter and slices his own throat with it.  Whiterose screams for help, but it’s no use.  The camera pans around and we see that her man bled all over the white rose bouquet.

Time Won’t Give Me Time

In the present day (2015, to be exact), Whiterose has her assistant, Wang Shu (aka Ms. Thang Jr.) get her mother’s dress ready.  She wants to wear it when her project is shipped to the Congo.  Ms. Thang Jr. reminds Whiterose that she shouldn’t be poppin’ champagne just yet.  Elliot is still out there plotting against them.  The whole situation with Eddie Lomax committing suicide and Phillip Price’s sudden resignation request aren’t coincidences.  Whiterose suggests to deny Price’s request and to keep looking into Elliot via round-the-clock surveillance.  Ms. Thang Jr. tries offer comforting words, saying that they’ll figure everything out, it’ll just take patience.  Whiterose remembers what her late lover said about being patient, and abruptly changes her mind.  Give Price what he wants, but move the date up.  Ms. Thang Jr. is totally against this, saying that Whiterose’s rash moves will put them in jeopardy.  Whiterose is fresh out of patience, and she states that disrupting the timeline is the perfect way to force Elliot and Price into a mistake.  I have to agree.  Now, instead of Elliot having eight days to come up with a plan, he has less than 24 hrs.

Ms. Thang Jr. reminds Whiterose that once Price resigns, there’ll be no CEO at E-Corp.  Whiterose has the perfect idea…make Tyrell the CEO.  He’ll accept it.  You damn skippy he will!

Unexpected (and Unwelcome) Surprises

Mr. Robot is narrating…again.  Elliot, when are you gonna talk to us?  Anyway, Mr. Robot is nervous and on the lookout for Vera’s crazy ass, as he should be.  Elliot, on the other hand, is basically like this:

As he and his alter ego (the one we know of) walk down the street, they bump into Krista, and she ain’t too happy to see him.  As a matter of fact, she mutters, “Oh, shit,” the minute she realizes who it is.

Elliot tries to say hi and that he’s taking her advice about Mr. Robot, but Krista ain’t got time.  To summarize, she lets it be known she wants nothing to do with him, and she feels unsafe around him.  Krista even goes so far as to threaten legal action if he doesn’t leave her alone.  Really, Krista?  Elliot, clearly hurt, says he just wanted to thank her for helping him.  He pulls his hoodie back over his head and leaves.  Poor Elliot.  Little do either of them know that DJ, Vera’s right hand, is watching this entire exchange…

Elliot ain’t the one you got to worry about, boo!

Sibling Rivalry

Back at Allsafe, Darlene is telling Elliot about Olivia Cortez, Susan Jacobs’s US contact with Cypress National Bank.  Apparently, Olivia is the only account manager Susan dealt with, so they’re going to have to hack her to get access to the Dark Army’s accounts.  Elliot’s already hacked into her computer remotely, but he’s not finding anything useful…at least not regarding the Dark Army.  He does however, learn that Olivia has a date later that night and is involved in a custody battle.  Darlene tells him most bank employees have a laptop specifically for the job that has to be hacked in person, which is why he’s not seeing anything related to Whiterose’s money.

Elliot uses Olivia’s schedule to his advantage and decides to break in her house to get access to her work laptop while she’s out.  Darlene’s not down with that idea.  The plan was that she would hack the bank computer and Elliot was supposed to deal with the SS7 license (whatever the hell that is).  Elliot says that was before they found out that they have put hands on the computer to hack it.  It’s too risky for Darlene to go now.  Darlene, being her usual hardheaded self disagrees, and Elliot asks Mr. Robot to step in and talk some sense into her.  Darlene still doesn’t listen, so Elliot takes back over and the “protective big brother bit” Darlene was criticizing him for a second ago is gone.

Elliot grabs her arm, hurting her.  Darlene asks if it’s really him, and he lets her know that it is.  No Mr. Robot.  No mystery third guest.  This is Elliot being rough and hurtful.  Darlene is disgusted, especially after she figured they were in a better place since cremating their mother the night before.  She asks if things will always be this way with him, and Elliot tells her things’ll never change.  Before he leaves, he drives an even deeper nail in her heart by telling her that he wishes he never opened the door for her when she came by last Halloween.  Really, Elliot?  Darlene tears up as he leaves.

Olivia

As Elliot breaks into Olivia’s apartment, Mr. Robot tells us that there’s no word for someone that’s lost everyone:  his parents, friends, and his girlfriend.  Some folks would call him a survivor, but others would say he’s a ticking time bomb.  We all can see that Elliot’s in the latter category.  Elliot eventually locates the work laptop, while Mr. Robot searches her personal computer for any possible clues (it still cracks me up how Elliot and Mr. Robot “split up” and do different things when they’re together).  It’s soon revealed that in order to get into Olivia’s work computer, Elliot needs her security fob. Mr. Robot recommends other alternatives to get Olivia to log into her computer, but Elliot’s not trying to take a chance of her getting suspicious.  He knows there’s only one way to get his hands on the fob…crash her date.

On a side note, I used to have one of those security fobs for my job.  We had to keep it on us at all times, preferably on our key chains (Mr. Robot suggested maybe Olivia got sloppy and left it at home, but I know for a fact that’s a no-no).  It’s also true about the security code changing every 60 seconds.  As a matter of fact, if you haven’t logged onto your computer after 45 seconds pass, you might as well wait for the next code to come up, because the current one will be considered useless.

Back on subject, Elliot and Mr. Robot go to the bar where Olivia is waiting to meet Evan, her date.  It appears she’s been stood up, and she’s about to leave.  Mr. Robot advises to regroup and try something else, but Elliot has some dirt on Olivia.  Earlier, he peeped a bottle of Oxycontin in Olivia’s bathroom.  Elliot also learned that as a part of her custody agreement, Olivia has to stay clean, or she’ll lose her son.  He can use that information as leverage to get the fob.  Really, Elliot?  It turns out I wasn’t the only one that didn’t like Elliot showing this ruthless side.  Mr. Robot blasts this idea and instead suggests they just have small talk with Olivia and snatch the fob.  Elliot ain’t goin’ for it.

He approaches Olivia, but as we all know, Elliot’s not always the most assertive guy, so he stumbles a bit before he’s about to lay out his blackmail scheme.  Before he can do so, Mr. Robot takes over, charmingly introduces himself (as Elliot) and offers to buy her a drink.  Elliot protests, but now it’s Mr. Robot’s turn to ignore him.  Olivia agrees, and Mr. Robot lets Elliot take over again.  Just like that, this encounter has turned into an actual date.  Hmmm…

The (Wannabe) King of New York

We’ve returned to the same restaurant Elliot and Shayla had their last conversation before she was snatched up by Vera’s men and eventually murdered.  We soon get confirmation on something all of us already figured:  it’s really a front for Vera’s drug operation.  This crazy fool is in the back stuffin’ dope in chickens and using kids as delivery boys.  DJ shows up, and Vera asks if he has any good intel on Elliot.  DJ can’t get a read off Elliot, considering that he always seems to run solo (I’m surprised he missed Darlene).  Vera starts going off on how he returned to be king of New York and how he needs a good architect to do that.  DJ offers to hold Elliot hostage and make him cooperate, but Vera says he wants Elliot as a partner, not a prisoner.  I still say this:

Vera presses DJ for info, but all he knows is that Elliot got into it with some chick on the street earlier that day.  He shows Vera a pic, and he sees Krista yelling at a distraught Elliot.  Vera tries to get more info about Krista’s attitude towards Elliot, but DJ fails to provide details.

Vera shows the pic to one of his pediatric drug mules and the kid remarks that Elliot looks sad, like how he does when his mother is mean to him.  Without even blinking, Vera takes his gun and shoots DJ in the gut.  As DJ’s bleeding out on the floor, Vera studies the picture and decides that Krista is the perfect target.  Then he proceeds to finish DJ off by shooting him in the head.  Really, Vera?

By the way, the scariest part of this scene isn’t Vera killing someone at random.  Anyone that’s a fan of the show is used to that.  The scariest part is that the kid that witnessed all this—who was sitting next to Vera when he fired the gun—didn’t flinch.  Eerie.

Match.com

Olivia and Elliot are still in the bar, having drinks.  Elliot hasn’t been able to swipe Olivia’s security fob yet, so they’ve been talking.  As it turns out, they both have a lot in common.  Olivia’s mother died, and she doesn’t get along with her dad that well.  Elliot admits (awkwardly) that he was addicted to morphine, but he’s clean now…except for the heroin he did two days ago that he really didn’t want.  It’s especially hilarious when Olivia asks if someone held Elliot down to do it, and he was just like, “Yeah.”  That’s fine, though.  She seems to be really into to him, and vice versa.  Elliot even manages to smile while he’s talking to her.  Yes, he smiled!  Just then Evan shows up.

It becomes more apparent that Olivia’s into Elliot, because she acts like she doesn’t even know who Evan is.  She tries to ditch Evan officially by hinting that she and Elliot are about to leave together, but Elliot doesn’t catch the clue.  Olivia says goodbye to Elliot and leaves, taking the fob with her.  Elliot runs after her and kisses her in the street.

Then the unexpected happens…

ELLIOT GETS SOME!!    😮😮😮

Sometime later, Elliot’s still at Olivia’s place, getting dressed.  By the way, Elliot’s sex game must be off the charts; he managed to put both Shayla and Olivia to sleep when he hooked up with them.  He put it on Shayla so good, she forgot what day it was when she woke up!  Anyway, Elliot finally gets his hands on the security fob and sneaks in the bathroom to text the code to Darlene.

Right after he sends the code, Price sends Elliot a text, letting him know that the Deus Group meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.  Dun-dun-dunnnnnn!  Olivia knocks on the door, startling him.  Elliot knocks over a small crate with some items on it, one of which was the bottle of Oxycontin.  Olivia tells him that bottle isn’t what he thinks it is.  She admits that after her mother was murdered, she became an addict to numb the pain, which harmed her relationship with her father.  She then opened the bottle to show Elliot what was really inside of it…a razor blade.  Olivia goes on to say that she uses it as a reminder that if she goes back to using, she may as well kill herself.  Elliot opens up and tells her about his own desire to commit suicide a few months ago and how Trenton’s little bro saved him (I wonder if Elliot ever kept his promise and took him to go see The Martian).  Elliot tells Olivia that she can’t scare him, and after she lets him know there’s plenty more crazy where that came from, she snuggles up with him.  Awww…

Elliot leaves and while he and Mr. Robot are waiting for the subway, the latter remarks on how Olivia overrode Elliot’s access to his heart, and now he’s learned that letting people in doesn’t have to hurt.

Tyrelliot In Full Effect!

After leaving the subway, Elliot notices a white van following him.  He can’t go back to Allsafe and meet up with Darlene, so he decides to walk home and act like everything is everything.  The only problem with that is, when he gets home, he sees that some fool pried the door open.  Mr. Robot wants to run, but Elliot knows that’s fruitless, considering the bad guys are outside, too.  Elliot pushes the door open, and who does he see?

It’s Tyrell, muthafuckers!

The second Tyrell sees Elliot, he’s all like, “HEY, ELLIOT!  THEY MADE ME CEO!  WE CAN TAKE DOWN WHITEROSE JUST LIKE WE PLANNED!”  *Sigh*

Elliot tries his best to shut Tyrell’s crazy ass up, but this fool…keeps…talking.  Finally, Elliot literally has to spell it out for him by writing on a sheet of paper:

Sure enough, the white van is parked outside of Elliot’s apartment building doing just that.  And that’s where our story ends.

I really enjoyed this episode.  As a matter of fact, the more I watched it, the more I liked it.  I noticed that it’s been getting some mixed reviews, due to some folks believing this latest installment was pure filler.  Yeah, the episode was a bit slower than the previous two, but it was still very entertaining.  One of the things I loved about “403 Forbidden” is Whiterose’s backstory.  It gave us a bit of insight on what made her into the person she is today.  Don’t get me wrong, she was always a bit ratchet (after all, her ultimate goal was to steal IBM’s intellectual property), but her early shady behavior didn’t include mass genocide.  Losing the man she loved pushed her over the edge, I think.  Despite all the evil Whiterose has committed throughout the series, you can’t help but feel sympathy for her when her lover takes his own life.

Speaking of which, suicide was a pretty big theme of this week’s episode.  So much so, the network decided to provide the number for a suicide hotline for those in need of counseling.  Trust me, there’s so many people that need help with this issue.  I’m glad they did that.

I’m a bit perturbed with Krista.  Yeah, I get why she’s wary of Elliot, but damn.  She acted like he was stalking her, when all the poor man was doing was walking down the street minding his business.  Then, that whole, “I don’t feel safe around you” bit.  Girl, bye.  You ought to know that Elliot wouldn’t hurt you physically.  That’s okay, though.  She’s about to be in the presence of real evil, and she’ll wish her biggest threat was bumping into Elliot on the sidewalk.

Speaking of which, that damn Vera is still a hot mess, but I didn’t expect anything less.  This fool really thinks that Krista is Elliot’s heart.  Wrong.  I mean, Elliot cares about Krista, but ol’ boy missed out on his grand opportunity when he first came waltzing into town.  It’s a good thing Darlene didn’t mention to him who she was.

Plus, coming back to the same city and operating in the same quarters really isn’t the smartest move when you’re a wanted man that broke out of prison.  Then again, this is the same dude that went along with the idea of posting all his nefarious shit on social media.  SMDH.  By the way, there’s some people that don’t believe Vera’s return adds any value to the show, but it does.  Now Elliot has the Dark Army and Vera gunning for him.  I’m assuming Elliot’s not too worried about Vera at the moment because the Whiterose threat is a lot more dangerous, but Vera’s interference will soon become a serious issue.  Not only that, it’s gonna cut into the time Elliot needs to take down Whiterose, which’ll give us even more white knuckle situations.  On a side note, I’m still freaked out about that kid.  That’s another Vera in the making.

On to Tyrell…  Tyrell, yo’ ass is too smart to be sloppy like that.  First of all, learn to hush when people tell you to shut up.  Second of all, why the hell did you bust in Elliot’s apartment like that?  What, you couldn’t just pick the lock?

Elliot still isn’t talking to us.  I really hope that changes soon.  I miss him.  Mr. Robot doesn’t spill half as much tea.  The 180º shift in Elliot and Mr. Robot’s characters continues to be interesting.  Elliot’s off the chain right now, and Mr. Robot always has to be the one to talk him off the ledge.  Not only that, Mr. Robot is always the one that has to be the supportive big brother to Darlene, while Elliot is being more rough and dismissive of her.  I honestly think that Elliot was still upset over the whole Krista encounter and between that and Darlene being hardheaded about staying put when he asked her to, he decided to use her as a punching bag.  Not cool.  Speaking of not cool, I can’t believe Elliot actually considered blackmailing a single mom!  I get a sleazy pedophile, but a single mom doing all she can to take care of her son?  That’s cold-hearted, boo.  Ironically enough, if Elliot had gone along with his initial blackmail scheme, it would’ve thwarted his plans, seeing as Olivia no longer had prescription narcotics in her possession.  Mr. Robot’s interjection saved the plan, and it allowed Elliot’s newfound hard demeanor to soften, thankfully.

Now onto Ms. Olivia.  I like her, just like I liked Shayla.  She and Elliot make a cute couple and their love scene together was super hot.  I have to be honest though, I hate that we were cheated out of a potential love scene with Elliot and Angela.  I really wanted those two to get together ever since the first episode.  However, I do like Olivia, and I’m glad Elliot found someone he could bond with, that was able to break through this tough exterior that he’s developed.  Also another cool thing about Olivia is that in real life, she’s Andy Garcia’s daughter!  I love him!

There’s some theories going around that Olivia’s not really here for Elliot; she’s another physical honeypot trying to trap him.  After all, the white van started following him after he left her place.  In the description for “403 Forbidden,” it mentions that “Elliot gets owned by his own hack.”  Plus, if you listen to the lyrics of “Flesh Without Blood” (the song that plays while Elliot and Olivia are getting their freak on; I’ve fallen in love with that song since I heard it), you realize it’s actually a breakup song.  As they say, Sam Esmail very seldomly incorporates things into the show on accident.  Then there’s the fact that 1) Elliot doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to romantic relationships; 2) poor Elliot stays losing and 3) this is Mr. Robot.  If Elliot can wake up in a damn ’90s sitcom, it’s not too far fetched for Olivia to be a card carrying member of the Dark Army.  Despite all those points, I have to disagree with his theory (for now).  It seems like Olivia has genuine feelings for Elliot, and she’s just a single mother who has no idea about the evil SOB’s she’s working for.  “Elliot [getting] owned by his own hack” could just mean that in opening up to Olivia to socially engineer her, she ended up gaining access to his heart.

However…now that we’ve been introduced to Olivia, we now know that things will eventually sour between her and Elliot.  This past episode confirmed that she’s the mystery woman berating Elliot in her apartment in the teaser trailer.  It’s clear that he’s sitting in her apartment as she gives him the business.  If you don’t remember that scene, here’s the video (courtesy of USA Networks/Universal):

I’m assuming that Elliot either told her about his involvement in the 5/9 hack, he admitted he slept with her mainly to gain access to her security fob, the Dark Army found out about Olivia being with Elliot and now she has a target on her back (or worse yet, her and her son), or all of the above.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

Next week, Tyrell, Elliot and Mr. Robot wander around the woods and Darlene gives Santa Claus a ride.  God, I love this crazy ass show.

—Written by Nadiya

So what did y’all think about “403 Forbidden”?  Did you sympathize—or at least empathize—with Whiterose?  Did you agree with how Krista treated Elliot, or do you think she was too harsh with him?  Did you agree with how Elliot treated Darlene, or is he lashing out at the one person that loves him?  What do you think about Elliot and Olivia?  Do you like them as a couple?  Do you think she really likes him or is she working for the Dark Army as an operative?  Do you miss Angela and wish she and Elliot could’ve had a chance?  Do you think Vera and Tyrell are damn fools?  Let me know in the comments section! 

What’s poppin’, y’all?  Let’s just jump right into this bad boy, because this latest episode of Mr. Robot had a lot to doggone unload.

Deus Ex Machina (Literally)

The show opens up with Price giving some very insightful exposition regarding Whiterose.  After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the USSR in the late ’80’s, Whiterose (disguised as Minister Zhang) decides to take advantage and begin an investment group called Deus, which consolidates foreign powers and uses global events (and by events, I mean mostly catastrophes) for profit.  Whiterose was able to get numerous world leaders behind her investment group, and eventually started the first Gulf War, aka Operation Desert Storm.  You read that correctly.

Turns out causing Operation Desert Storm was lucrative for Whiterose and her friends, as it gained them money in oil and influence within the military.  Then, Whiterose has a sensational idea:  instead of using industrial spies to gain information, she’d rather have electronic access to any and every person living to obtain whatever data she needs.  That’s right…Whiterose invented the internet.  THE WHOLE.  DAMN.  INTERNET.

Apparently, America was supposed to be the test case for the World Wide Web, and we flocked to that thang like flies to poo.  I can’t front; I still remember the first time I surfed the web.  I was 17, and my high school finally gained internet access, just in time for my senior year.  The second I went on a couple of websites (including IMDB.com) and saw how much information was right there at my fingertips, I was hooked.

Back to the subject at hand, with the rise of the net came the rise of E-Corp, which was actually a front for the Deus Group.  With every endeavor E-Corp had—be it E Coin, their health insurance, real estate or banks—the Deus Group became even more powerful, as they now had further influence over the public.   The members of the Deus Group learned soon enough that Whiterose wasn’t their partner, she was their boss, and the purpose of even starting the group was to fund whatever her project is in the Congo.  Yeah, they all talked their shit about it when it was underneath the power plant in Washington Township, but now that’s it’s going abroad, it’s becoming clear that Whiterose has something big planned and whatever it is, it’s no laughing matter.

An Unlikely Ally (TBD)

After Price’s rousing monologue, we see him speaking with Elliot and Mr. Robot back at Allsafe, with the Deus Group added to Elliot’s Dark Army board.  Price reveals that he was tasked to eliminate anyone that ever appeared at “John Garcin’s” apartment and to report the incident.  Elliot asks why Price saved him, but he never answers.  Price simply tells Elliot his bank heist won’t work, considering Whiterose designed the Deus Group to be impenetrable.  Mr. Robot takes over and suggests that Price act as a mole and provide his bank contact’s information.  Price informs that the bank contact is Susan Jacobs.  I admit; I laughed out loud at that.   Susan Jacobs is a dead end (pun intended).

Elliot asks for Susan’s info, and of course, Price tells him that she’s been missing for months.  That’s an understatement.  That chick is a pile of ashes at some animal shelter!  Anyway, Price tells Elliot that he can’t help him, but Elliot reminds him that Whiterose killed his daughter.  Damn.  He knew about Price and Angela.   Price reiterates that Elliot’s bank heist won’t work, and Elliot suggests to him to have all the Deus members meet up in the next eight days.  Price believes it’s impossible to have them all together in such a short amount of time, but Mr. Robot mentions that because of Price’s loyalty, initiating the meet won’t be too far fetched.  Elliot tells Price he may as well be dead if he sits around and does nothing.  Price says he became a dead man walking when he got involved with Whiterose…just like Elliot is.  Ouch.

Price leaves, and Darlene—who’s been blowing up Elliot’s phone for the past few minutes—calls again.  When Elliot answers, Darlene tells him that their mother died.

Ciao.

At Mrs. Alderson’s nursing home, Elliot and Darlene meet with a staff worker who won’t shut up about what a great person their mother was and how blessed they must’ve been to have her.  Darlene and Elliot ain’t here for the foolishness.  They know how the real deal, and simply ask the lady what they’re supposed to do with her stuff.  After she leaves–silently judging them, I might add—Elliot quickly gets to work, packing everything up to go to charity, while Darlene’s chillin’.  She admits that she’s relieved their mother is gone.  Elliot, on the other hand, has other stuff on his mind.  Darlene asks him if they’re still cool after she wigged out on him about Angela the day before, and Elliot says they are as he continues packing everything up, never even breaking stride.  When he starts to unload the drawers, he notices his old walkman.  He opens it and finds a tape inside, but once Darlene spots him with the tape player, he quickly closes it and puts it in a box.  Darlene decides to keep it, saying that “cassettes are full on back.”  Since when?  When Darlene finally decides to help Elliot out, she notices a receipt for a safe deposit box with the Bank of E.  Hmmm…

Where in the World Is Agent Santiago?

Dom finally takes her interview concerning Santiago, and as it turns out, it’s part of an investigation about his disappearance.  As Agent Horton interviews her, she’s clearly ill at ease, and he asks if she’s okay.  Dom admits that Santiago was a double agent.  OH SHIT!!

Agent Horton asks Dom who Santiago was working for, and she takes a deep breath and reveals the name:  The Trujillo drug cartel.  Got scared there for a minute!

La Mort Heureuse

After the interview, we see Janice’s creepy ass at her taxidermy business when she gets a call.  It’s Dom, letting her know that she did the interview and everything was all good.  Janice wants Dom to define “good.”  Dom tells her that Agent Horton bought her story.    Janice goes on to ask if everything’s on the up and up with Dom’s colleagues.  Dom says again that she’s sure Agent Horton believed her story.  Janice jots down Agent Horton’s name and asks her to define “sure.”  You gettin’ on my nerves, ho.

Dom says she’s 99.9% sure Agent Horton believed what she told him.  Janice seems to accept that and she goes on to give Dom a bit of a pep talk about how beginnings are hard, but everything’ll be alright as long as she keeps a level head, or some bullshit.  She goes on to tell Dom that everyone’s glad she’s back at work, and if she needs anything, to let them know.  Dom hangs up the phone, clearly not being able to take anymore horseshit.  Janice has a customer who entered the shop while she was talking to Dom, and when she goes up front to help her, the lady says she wants her dog to be with her forever, and proceeds to slam the dog’s dead (and deboned) body on the counter.  Gross.

By the way, I couldn’t help but notice that Dom has a promotion (come to think of it, they may have briefly mentioned this in the last episode).  Now she’s the Assistant Special Agent in Charge.  Just like Tyrell, she probably got a job she always wanted…but she can’t even enjoy it.  SMH.

Final Arrangements

At the funeral home, Mr. Robot can see that Elliot’s not really dealing with his mother’s death, but instead is racking his brain trying to figure out how to track down Susan Jacobs.  Mr. Robot tells Elliot that he’s become an expert at observing him and he needs to take a second and try to cope with his mother being gone, instead of holding his feelings in.  Elliot lets Mr. Robot know that the only thing he’s holding in is the fact that he needs to take down Whiterose, or else they all die, Darlene included.  Elliot walks off and asks if Mr. Robot’s expert observation noticed that.  Something about that was kind of sexy.  Mr. Robot acknowledges that could’ve gone better before muttering to us, “Fuck you.”  Fuck you too, Mr. Robot!  Bastard.

Meanwhile, Darlene’s trying to decide what funeral arrangements her mother would’ve wanted and has to deal with more silent judgement, this time from the director.  Elliot walks in and indifferently asks for cremation, a cardboard coffin and the cheapest urn they have.  Boss.

Sometime later, Elliot and Darlene are waiting for the subway, Elliot’s still trying to get more information on Susan Jacobs via his cell phone, whereas Darlene’s wondering aloud why their mother had a safe deposit box.  Money?  A deed to a house?  Adoption papers?  Elliot ain’t got time and keeps doing what he’s doing.  Darlene finally gets tired of him ignoring her and snatches his phone.  She thought they were cool, and Elliot tells her that they are.  Darlene wants him to prove it by coming with her to the bank.  Elliot doesn’t want to, but Darlene tells him that she needs him right now.   This convinces Elliot, although he still thinks it’s a waste of time.  A snowman sitting nearby give his condolences.  A kiss and hug to anyone who can tell me what that’s in reference to.  🙂

Keep it 💯

Dom is interrogating an Irish human trafficker and appears to be back in her element again, when she receives a text from Janice that reads, “Sorry about your co-worker.”  As if on cue, an agent bursts through the door and calls Dom out of the room due to an urgent issue.   The agent shows her a news report about a man that jumped to his death a few hours earlier.  Dom asks what that has to do with her, and the agent informs it was Agent Horton that supposedly committed suicide.  He goes on to ask Dom if she noticed anything off with Agent Horton when they had their interview earlier that day.  After all, she was one of the last people to talk to him before he “took his own life.”  Just then, Dom gets another text from Janice that reads:

Wow.

Bank of E:  We Don’t Give a Damn ‘Bout Our Customers!

Darlene and Elliot are at the bank waiting to see what the big secret was in their mother’s safe deposit box.  Unfortunately for everyone, the box is gone; it has been for two years now.  The banker tells them that Mrs. Alderson stopped paying her bill, and after a 120 day grace period and zero contact from her, the organization threw all her stuff away, per Bank of E policy.  SMDH.  Darlene promptly cusses the man out and Elliot tries to get her to come back with him to the funeral parlor so they can collect their mother’s ashes.

Darlene’s clearly distraught and Elliot tries to tell her that the safe deposit box isn’t that big of a deal.  Darlene admits that it has nothing to do with the safe deposit box and everything to do with Elliot just not giving a shit.  Elliot says after years of enduring their mother’s abuse, of course he doesn’t give a damn, but Darlene’s not talking about their mom…she’s talking about Angela.  Darlene accepts that Angela’s gone, and wishes she could just brush off her death like Elliot did.  Elliot admits that he hasn’t gotten over Angela; not even close.  He takes out his walkman and hands it to her, and tells her to open it up.  There’s a tape inside labeled, “Happy Mother’s Day.”  It turns out it was a tape Elliot, Darlene and Angela made for Mrs. Moss, not Mrs. Alderson.  Darlene has no idea how their mother got it or why she kept it.  Elliot assumes she was lonely and wished her kids would’ve made her a Mother’s Day tape.  Uh…maybe if you treated them better they would have?  Just a thought.

Darlene plays the tape and asks Elliot to listen to it with her, but he can’t bring himself to do it.  However, once Darlene puts the headphones on her head and starts crying, Elliot cuddles up next to her and listens in.  Awww…

Price’s Gift to Whiterose

Price goes to visit Whiterose—disguised as Zhang—and lets her know that he’s resigning as the CEO of E-Corp by the end of the year.  Not only that, but he’s leaving the Deus Group, too.  Whiterose tells him he can’t leave now; her project hasn’t shipped to the Congo yet.  Price doesn’t care.  Whiterose mentions that in order for Price to resign, all the Deus Group members have to meet in person.  Price suggests they have a meeting on New Year’s. Whiterose ain’t happy at all, and screams at Price that the game isn’t played that way.  Price tells her that if she thinks this is all a game, she should be ecstatic.  She won.  With that, Price leaves and Whiterose is so pissed off, she sends her gorgeous Christmas tree crashing to the floor.

fsociety Reunited

Back at the funeral home, Elliot gets a call from Price, notifying that he made his move.  Elliot thanks him, but Price tells him he didn’t do it for him.  Bitch, Elliot didn’t want you to do it for him!  Anyway, Darlene shows up with their mother’s urn in tow and asks who Elliot was talking to, but he lies and says it wasn’t anybody.   Darlene sees through this and reveals that she saw him looking up info on Susan Jacobs on his phone.  Elliot asks why she cares so much, and since Darlene is in a chapel, she pretty much confesses to killing her.  Elliot immediately blasphemes, but then realizes he’s in the house of the Lord and takes pause.

On a side note, I’m still not sure if Darlene accidentally killed Susan Jacobs or if it was intentional.  On one hand, she seemed shocked when she saw Susan’s lifeless body fall into her pool after shocking her with that stun gun, and she swore up and down she didn’t know the woman had a pacemaker.  However, I don’t know how Darlene didn’t notice she had a heart condition, considering all the e-mails about pacemakers and heart health she came across when she hacked Susan’s e-mail.  Darlene had to have seen at least one of them.  Mobley did.  Not only that, but Darlene stunned the woman directly in the heart.  Most folks tend to go towards the lower torso.  I can’t even say I’m 99.9% sure of what really happened.  Too soon?  😂😂

Anyway, Darlene asks Elliot if they’re still cool, even though she committed murder.  Elliot assures her they are, considering that Susan Jacobs wasn’t exactly a moral compass, and he asks Darlene for everything she has on Susan.  Darlene wants to know why he needs that information, and Elliot lets it be known that he’s going after Whiterose.  Darlene wants in.  Elliot refuses, but Darlene truthfully tells him that every successful big time hack he did was with fsociety, and now, they’re all they have.  Deep down, Elliot knows she’s right and reluctantly lets her join the team, although he wouldn’t have had any say in the matter anyway.  Darlene mentions that she figured Elliot was up to something, but she wasn’t sure what it was.  She assumed it had something to do with Vera.

Elliot is confused.  Vera?  What about Vera?  Darlene tells him that she thought his plan involved trying to get revenge against Vera.  After all, he showed up at Elliot’s place a few months back, and when Darlene tried to tell him about it, he brushed it off.  We get a glimpse of Mr. Robot sitting nearby, looking a bit confused himself.  When Darlene leaves, Elliot’s furious.  He goes off on Mr. Robot, accusing him of being untrustworthy yet again.  Mr. Robot swears down Darlene didn’t tell him about Vera.  Elliot knows good and well Darlene didn’t say anything to him.  Mr. Robot promises he didn’t know anything about Vera coming back.  Now, we all know that Mr. Robot lies like a damn rug, but this time, he appears to be telling the truth.  Elliot asks the question we’ve all been asking…if Darlene didn’t tell him, and she didn’t tell Mr. Robot, who did she talk to?

Meanwhile, Inside the Wonderful World of Elliot’s Head…

Little Elliot is in a boardroom, turning in a chair—the same boardroom Tyrell invited grown Elliot to (for real) in the pilot episode.  There’s four chairs at the table where little Elliot is seated.

Elliot’s mom walks in and tells him that’s not his seat and he needs to move.  Little Elliot asks why and his mother answers that they have to wait until “they’re” ready.  When Little Elliot asks who they’re waiting for, his mother responds, “Him.”  Little Elliot wonders if it’s Mr. Robot.  His mother tells him it isn’t.  Little Elliot guesses it’s grown Elliot, then.  Wrong again.  Then who?  She says, “The other one.”

The other one!?

THE OTHER ONE!?

THE OTHER ONE!?  THERE’S ANOTHER PERSONALITY!?!?

And that’s the end of the show (that’s enough!  Damn!).

As usual, this episode was great, and it mooked up my mind.  No lie, I lost serious sleep over the ending.  However, after racking my brain over it for the next day or so, I think I may have an idea as to who the third personality is.  I’ll save that for a separate post; I really have to break down how and why I came up with the person I came up with.

I’ll say this much, I really miss Elliot talking to us.  Mr. Robot doesn’t talk nearly enough for my taste, although I laughed out loud at his “Fuck you” line (I wasn’t really mad 😀).  I loved the scene where Elliot and Darlene cuddled up together at the bank, and I’m so glad the dynamic duo is back together again!  Let’s just hope they both live through this.  On this show, you never know.  On a side note, whenever Elliot gave Mr. Robot the business this episode, it was hot!  Don’t judge me; I love that little guy.  He and Bruno Mars are my favorite little men.

I feel really bad for Dom, and that doggone Janice irks my nerve.  At least Leon and Irving were likable!  I really hope Dom can find a way to get out from under the Dark Army’s thumb, with Elliot and Darlene’s help, of course.  Next week, Elliot and Darlene start putting their plan in motion and Vera finally makes an appearance, whining about how he wants Elliot to be his partner.

So far, I’m enjoying the season, and I know the best (and craziest) is yet to come!  Once again, I just hope Elliot and Darlene live to tell the tale.  It’s bad enough they killed Angela…  😭😭😭

—Written by Nadiya

So what did you think about “402 Payment Required”?  Are you glad Elliot and Darlene teamed up again?  Do you think Elliot dealt with his mother’s death or just pushed it all in like Mr. Robot said?  Also, do you think Elliot and Darlene were cold about their mother dying, or were their attitudes justified?  Did you want to see what was in Mrs. Alderson’s safe deposit box?  Why do you think Price is helping Elliot?  Is it revenge for what Whiterose did to Angela?  Who do you think the third personality is?  Are you excited to see Vera come back?  Let me know in the comments section!